The Last Day
by TheAngelsHaveThePhoneBox
Summary: It's Ryan Murphy's last day of school. He started off worried about the future. Now he's worried about the aliens, the spaceships, and the weird blokes in bowties. Turns out, this might not just be the last day of school, but the last day of everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! **

**This is the first story in what I hope will be an ongoing series of 13 'episodes', just like a series of the actual show, but with my own original companion. I was planning to start this on Halloween, but then I realised that the Doctor doesn't actually come into this story until Chapter 2, so I thought I'd post this first chapter now and then another one tomorrow. So don't forget to not only review, but also hit the Story Alert button!**

**I hope you enjoy, and stay for the whole ride!**

* * *

**DOCTOR WHO**

**The Last Day**

* * *

By lunchtime, Ryan was already sick of all 'the last's. All day long; 'the last this' and 'the last that'. Was everyone in his year obsessed?

"Ooh!" one girl would say. "This is the last time we'll ever have registration!"

"Make the best of it," another lad would say. "This is the last P.E. lesson we'll ever have!"

He honestly hadn't realised they did so many things in one day until he was constantly being reminded it was the last time he'd do them. And yet, if he was honest, it wasn't the constant reminders that were bothering him, it was the truth of them.

Okay, so maybe he'd moaned about it, from time to time. Whenever he'd been given homework or detention, he'd bore his mates to tears by telling them how much he hated this place, and that the day he could walk through those gates and never come back would be the happiest of his life.

But now it was here. The last day of school, ever. And he wasn't feeling too happy.

Ryan leant back in his chair, looking around the sixth form common room at his fellow students. He'd purposefully separated himself from his group of friends, who chatted animatedly with some girls in the far corner of the room. Trying their luck one last time, he supposed. He, however, was sat in front of a school computer, his dinner hour passing him by while he watched random videos on YouTube. The last two weeks had been spent much the same way. His A-Level exams were over, but the school year was not, so attendance was still required. At times, he felt a little like a prisoner on death row, waiting for the end.

Okay, he thought, maybe that was being a bit _too_ dramatic. Although, in a way, his life as he knew it was ending today. This afternoon he would leave school forever. And in a few weeks, provided his exam results were good enough, he'd be packing up and moving halfway across the country to attend University. After 5 years of regular school, and 2 years of sixth form, everything was about change.

The very thought sent a rush of fear through him, and he promptly turned his attention back to YouTube. When he did so, however, he found the computer screen flickering. He frowned, and lightly smacked the side of the monitor. But no use, the screen continued to flash on and off, before dying completely.

"Fantastic." Ryan muttered.

Lucky for him, however, the bell rang to signify the end of lunch time, and Ryan joined the other students shuffling out of the common room, rolling his eyes when he heard someone announcing that they were off to their last English lesson.

And before he knew it, the bell was ringing again, and the day was over.

It was funny, but he thought it would be a bit more dramatic. Of course, his classmates were openly cheering as they walked out of the school doors. But he was expecting something perhaps a bit more poignant. Like the last episode of a TV Show, in which the main character exits a room for the last time, stopping for one last look before turning off the light.

His mates, however, didn't seem to share his sentiments.

"Free at last!" Craig cried, throwing his arms out theatrically. "Free at last! Good God almighty I'm - well you get my drift."

Ryan, Tom and Adam laughed.

"Seriously though," Craig said, "words cannot express how made up I am to be out of this place for good."

"I'd agree with you, mate." Adam said. "But I've got a funny feeling I'll be back next year doing re-sits."

"And me." Tom added. "That Maths test last week was impossible, I knew as soon as I read the questions I'd failed."

"Well, I'm finished then," said Craig. "'Cos I was copying off of you."

It wasn't until they were off school grounds and onto the neighbouring field between them and their homes that the group noticed Ryan's silence.

"Ah, what's up with you?" Craig said, nudging Ryan with his arm. "Thought you'd be dancing in the streets, now we're finally free of that place. You'd think you were actually upset to be leaving or something."

Ryan avoided their gazes.

"Come off it, mate!" Adam said.

"Joke all you want, lads," said Ryan. "These were the best years of our lives. It's all downhill from here. Uni will be over before you know it, and then it's all jobs, and bills and mortgages."

"And women." Tom said. "Don't forget the women."

"Tom, the only female interaction in your future is from the nurse taking your blood for money, you bum," said Craig.

Adam intervened before Tom could reply. "Ryan, you are messing, aren't you? You're not actually upset to be leaving school?"

"No, I'm serious." Ryan insisted. "Don't you realise? This is, like, the end of our childhood!"

His friends stopped smiling and gave each other worried glances.

Ryan sighed.

"For God's sake, lads. I'm only messing." he said, putting on a grin.

A collective sigh of relief and a few arm punches later, and the carefree atmosphere returned.

"Believed you for a second there," said Craig. "Anyway, Tom's childhood ended when he went behind the school with Adam's sister."

"What?" Adam cried.

Tom froze, and scrambled to defend himself. But, fortunately for him, Craig let out a distracting laugh and pointed across the field.

"Oh, hang about." he said. "Here comes Crazy Harry!"

Crazy Harry was well known amongst the school kids. He was the old man who lived in the house (though it was more of a hut) on the field next to the school. He'd earned the nickname "Crazy" because of his giant duffle coat and Sherlock Holmes-like deer hunter hat that he wore all year round, and frequently babbled to anyone passing by about the aliens that tormented him. On this particular occasion, he was hobbling towards the four young men, looking more than a little distressed.

"They've crossed the line this time!" he shouted. "The miserable purple swines! Cowards, they are! Cowards!"

"What's happened this time, Harry?" Craig asked, a giant smile on his face.

"The aliens, of course! The aliens, boy!"

Tom and Craig started to laugh, and Adam was trying to suppress a smile, but Ryan just stood there. He had always been uncomfortable with how the others found joy in Harry's anguish.

"They've had it in for me for years!" Crazy Harry went on. "Flying their ships over my field, waking me up at all hours of the night. But they've gone too far this time, they're tampering with my personal belongings now!"

"Come on, lads." said Ryan. "Let's go."

But the other three weren't listening.

"What are they doing this time, Harry?" Tom asked in between laughs.

"They're stealing my television channels!"

That was it. Craig, Tom and Adam were now roaring with laughter. But what bothered Ryan the most was that Harry didn't seem to notice.

"It's true, boys!" he declared. "BBC One: gone! And Channel 4's on the blink too! It's them aliens, they must be using my television signal for something."

"Oh, God." Craig panted. "I'm gonna wet myself!"

"I'll tell you one thing, boys, I'm gonna hunt them down. If they want BBC One they can pay the license fee like everyone else!"

The three boys erupted into a fresh wave of hysteria. But Ryan wouldn't stand by and watch anymore.

"Alright, enough." Ryan said firmly, physically turning his friends the other way around and pushing them forward.

"Ryan, we're only messing, mate," Adam gasped.

"I don't care, just start walking." And when his friends were finally walking away, Ryan turned back to the old man, and said, "Go home, Harry."

"Oh, I will my boy." Crazy Harry nodded, beginning to hobble back to his hut. "I'll be phoning the Police about this. Thieving green gits!"

Ryan shook his head, and jogged to catch up with his friends.

When Ryan finally arrived home, he had barely taken off his jacket and put down his bag before he found himself being lifted completely off the ground by his mother.

"Mum!" he groaned.

"My little baby!" said Karen Murphy, refusing to relinquish her monster-hug. "I remember your first day of Primary school! You looked gorgeous in that teeny-tiny tie and jumper. And now you're off to University!"

"I am not off to University!" said Ryan, struggling until he was placed back on the floor. "I've got a whole summer first!"

"That will fly by, and before you know it, you'll be off."

His mother beamed at him, and looked like she was going in for another hug, so Ryan quickly made his way into the living room. His Dad, still in his work overalls, sat in front of the TV.

"Alright, son?" he said. "Good last day?"

"Same as all the others," said Ryan irritably, throwing himself down onto the couch.

"Can you believe it, Jack?" said his Mum, entering the room. "Remember his little primary school uniform?"

"Oh, yes," said his Dad with a grin. "As I recall, we needed an extra pair of school shorts, as someone was still prone to having accidents."

"Okay!" said Ryan, reaching his limits. "Enough talk about Universities, or accidents. I've got all summer before I have to do anything or go anywhere, and I haven't even got my results yet! We don't even know if I'll get in."

"Oh, shut up! Of course you'll get in," his Mum said, waving a hand at him for being so silly and then walking off towards the kitchen. "Anyway, listen, I've been in town, got you a booklet on student halls. You'll have to get your application in quick 'cos they fly out like hot cakes."

Ryan looked at his Dad in exhaustion, who simply gave a knowing smile.

Ryan spent the rest of the evening mostly in his room, avoiding his mother and any more talk of loans and dorms. When he eventually came back downstairs, Karen shoved a mug of tea in his hands and ordered him to take it outside to his Dad.

It was dark out, and Ryan found Jack up a ladder and messing with something on the roof by torchlight.

"Dad," he called. "Tea."

"Ah," his Dad said, making his way down the ladder. "Thanks, son."

"What're you doing?"

"The telly's gone all fuzzy," his Dad explained. "I was checking the satellite."

Taking the mug off of him, Jack leaned back against the wall and took a sip. Ryan did the same.

He considered voicing his thoughts to his Dad. They said you should talk about it, when something was bothering you, with friends and family. He obviously couldn't talk about it with his Mum, she was far too excited. He'd tried talking with his friends, it didn't go so well. But his Dad was a normal bloke. Never went to Uni, worked in garages all his life. He might understand.

"Dad," he started, but stopped when he saw his father was gazing off into the distance. "Dad, you ok?"

"Hmm?" Jack said. "Oh, yeah. Just thinking, son."

"About what?"

Jack took another drink of his tea and sighed. "Soon as I was sixteen, your Granddad sent me on my first job interview. Literally, on my birthday. Staying on at school wasn't even an option. And when I told him I wouldn't mind trying to be a footballer, he told me to stop being so stupid."

Ryan nodded, knowing what it was like to have a parent pushing you in a direction you didn't want to go in. But just as he thought he'd found someone to talk to, his Dad gave him a sad smile.

"I never had the opportunities you've had, Ryan." he said. "Never. I mean, it worked out for the best, I suppose. I've had a good life, I met your Mum, I had you. But you can't help but wonder, y'know… what if?" Jack sighed, and looked up towards the stars. "So I want you to do me a favour. When these results come back, and you've passed, I want you to go to Uni and get the best job you can possibly get. Do that for me, lad. Do everything I never could."

And Ryan just didn't have it in him to do anything else but give a small smile an say, "Yeah. Ok, Dad."

His Dad wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close.

"Good lad. Make me proud."

They stood like that for a few moments, in silence, until Ryan's mother's voice interrupted them from inside the house.

"Ryan?" she called. "Couldn't run the shop, could you? Got no bread for tomorrow."

And so, five minutes later, Ryan found himself walking along the dark streets towards the nearest corner shop. He had to hurry; the shop would be closing in about ten minutes, and cutting across the field would save time.

Almost as soon as he stepped onto the grass, he felt uneasy. Not that he was ever one to be afraid of the dark. If it was too dark to see, he had always reasoned, then whatever you thought was going to attack you probably couldn't see either. But, with the trees around the edges of the field blocking the streetlights, it really_ was_ dark. He could barely see his hand in front of his face. And with the wind moaning as it blew through the trees, even he had to admit there was a spooky atmosphere.

But he shook those silly thoughts from his head, and kept on walking, though perhaps a little bit faster than usual. Besides, he had too much to think about to be afraid of the dark. His conversation with his Dad had made it clear; it really was inevitable now. He was going to Uni, and that was that. The beginning of the rest of his life, and the end of the one he knew.

And as if that wasn't scary enough…

"Oi!" someone barked, making Ryan just about jump out of his skin. He turned towards the source of the voice, and saw a figure hobbling towards him in the dark.

"Who's there?" he said.

"They're coming!" said the man. "Just heard it, on my radio, they're coming!"

Ryan struggled through the dark to see who he was talking to, but soon the man was right in front of him, clutching him by the shoulders. At this close distance, he could just make out the silhouette of a Sherlock Holmes-like hat.

"Harry?" he said.

"Yes, lad!" Crazy Harry said. "Must have been a transmission from their ship, the alien's ship, but my radio picked it up, and they're coming. Right now! Any second!"

"Harry, calm down." Ryan said. "Look, let's get you home, yeah? Get you a cup of tea and some rest?"

"You're not listening!" Harry cried. His grip on Ryan's shoulders was becoming tighter. "Their ship, it's gonna crash here any second, you've got to help me fight them off."

"Harry, look at me." said Ryan slowly. "This is all in your head, there are no - "

"No!" Harry screamed. "They've been planning this for months. First they steal all our power, to isolate us in the dark. Now that we're defenceless, they're coming. To kill us all!"

"But, it's night time, Harry," said Ryan, trying his best to keep his voice calm and kind. "That's why it's dark. It's night."

"Don't be stupid, lad! Look at the streetlights, they're off!"

Ryan looked back towards the way he had came. It was true, even through the trees he should have been able to see _some_ glimmer from the streetlights. But there was nothing, just darkness.

"You see?" Harry said. "It's them, it's all part of their plan!"

Ryan shook his head. "It's probably just a blackout."

Harry let out another cry and clasped a hand to his head in frustration. Ryan didn't know what to do anymore; he didn't know whether Harry was having some sort of fit or what, but he needed to get him home. Ryan grabbed Harry by the shoulders and forced him to look at him.

"Harry." he said. "There are no aliens. There is no one coming to kill us. And there is definitely no spaceship!"

And that was when a streak of fire lit up the sky, and Ryan and Harry were sent flying by the explosion of the spaceship crashing in front of them.

* * *

_End of Chapter One_


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan may have passed out for a second, he didn't know. But the next thing he remembered was feeling grass and muddy earth pressed against his face, and hearing the cackling of flames. Dazed, and with a thumping headache, he managed to sit up and lay eyes on what had fallen out of the sky.

There was a crater, just a few feet from where they had been standing. The area around it was still on fire; thick, black smoke was escaping into the air. But through the smoke, undeniably, was a charred, but very much intact, spaceship.

It was at least 15ft long. The front of the ship was spherical, but became narrow towards the other end, leading to a rather sharp looking point at the rear, with strange, scale-like carvings along the craft's body. It was the most impossible thing Ryan had ever laid his eyes on.

But just when it seemed like things couldn't get any madder, they did. There was a noise, coming from above him. A grinding, mechanical noise. Like ancient gears rising and falling at an alarmingly fast rate. And this impossible noise was getting louder by the second. Ryan looked up at the sky, but it was impossible to see anything through all the smoke.

The grinding noise grew to a deafening level, and soon it became clear that something, though Ryan still couldn't see what it was, was again falling from the sky. He threw himself back to the floor, and shielded his head with his hands. There was another almighty crash, and he felt exploding grass and earth showering over him. And then, silence.

Again, Ryan stayed where he was for a second. He almost daren't look and see what had crashed this time. His mind was still working to rationalise one falling ship, never mind a second one. It seemed Crazy Harry wasn't so crazy after all.

And on that thought…

"Harry!" he said. "Harry, are you ok?"

Crazy Harry grumbled, his face pressed into the grass like Ryan's was before. Ryan managed to pull himself up to his knees, and dragged Harry over onto his back.

"Harry?"

"Fine." Harry said vaguely. "I'm fine. Where's the spaceship?"

"I think you mean spaceships." said Ryan, turning to look at the second ship for the first time.

Except, the second ship didn't look like a ship at all. Just a wooden, blue box. No bigger than a pay-phone. He could see light spilling out from two windows on the doors of the box, but before he had a chance to see anything else, the doors flew backwards, opening to unleash a fresh wave of smoke.

The next thing Ryan heard was coughing, but it wasn't coming from him or Harry. As the smoke began to clear in the doorway, a figure could be seen stumbling out.

"Aliens!" Harry hissed, sitting up to see for himself. "I told you, I told all of you!"

Ryan's ability to speak had deserted him, as had the ability to tear his eyes away from the blue box, or the figure falling out of it, which coughed a few more times, and tried to blow smoke away from its face with its hand. And when the smoke dissipated, Ryan and Harry came face to face with…

A very disoriented looking bloke. In a bow tie. With the stupidest hair Ryan had ever seen.

"Wh - What?" Ryan breathed, but loud enough that the man heard him. He spun around on the spot, turning a full 360, looking for whoever had spoken. Finally finding Ryan and Harry sitting a few feet away from the burning crater, he threw out his finger at them.

"Aha!" he yelled. "Caught in the red act! … I mean, caught red acted! … Caught in the… caught red…" He blinked, thought for a second, then threw out his finger again. "_Caught!_"

"…_what?_" said Ryan.

"Don't play dumb with me," the man said, still plagued by smoke as he took a few steps towards them, completely missing the large, burning spaceship behind him. "I've been following you since Jupiter! And, might I add, that my ship is more a trans-dimensional traveller, it's not used to the whole flying thing. I've burnt out 3 fuel tanks trying to keep up with you. And when I say burnt out, I really do mean…" He coughed again, and once more tried to fan the smoke away from his face with his hand.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Ryan.

"I'm talking about me," said the man. "hailing your ship multiple times to ask why you were currently rocketing towards a fully established Level 5 planet, and you ignoring me. Which led me to believe you didn't want anyone to know why you were rocketing towards a fully established Level 5 planet, which leads me to believe you have less than honourable intentions upon landing on said fully established Level 5 planet!"

Both Harry and Ryan looked at the man, blankly. He rolled his eyes.

"Come on! Give it up! You might have shook me for a second when I crashed into the moon a little bit, but I caught up with you just in time to see you enter the Earth's atmosphere. You're not fooling me with those rushed disguises, either. What are you using, a perception filter? I wasn't born yesterday, you know. You've got 'aliens' written all over you."

And again, Ryan and Harry could do no more than stare at him with clueless expressions.

The man laughed. "Oh, alright then. If you're not the big bad aliens who crashed here, then where are they?"

As he spoke, a blinding beam of light started to creep out of the spaceship behind him, running all the way along the craft and spreading outwards. The ship had cracked like an egg and split open, and from that opening, something was climbing out.

It looked, at first glace, like a spider. Perhaps the body was longer than your average spider, slightly more slug-like. But it's eight, long, spindly legs, and a mess of multiple red eyes definitely gave it the appearance of a spider. A spider, that is, that happened to be 3ft tall.

Seeing Ryan and Harry gazing open mouthed at something behind him, the man turned on his heels and found himself doing the same, especially now that countless more spider-slug things were climbing out of the ship and blinkingly adjusting to their new surroundings.

"Ah." said the man, turning slowly back around to face Ryan and Harry. "Well. In light of new evidence, namely the large group of aliens in the burning spaceship behind me, I hereby rescind my accusation and, as compensation, offer you the best piece of advice you'll ever receive in your entire life." He turned and looked at the alien slugs one more time, and then screamed, "_Run!_"

The creatures let out a collective hissing at the sight of the man running, and scrambled to try and get to the ground and follow. Fortunately, they were in such a great number that that was easier said than done, and the creatures ended up knocking each other over and trying to push one another out the way. And while they squabbled, the man had ran over to Ryan and Crazy Harry (who were still gazing in awe at the slugs) dragged them up to their feet and forced them to start running.

"What the hell are -?" Ryan tried to ask.

"Good question, wrong time." the man said, pushing Ryan forward. "Go, now, go on!"

And so they were running. Where, Ryan didn't know. And he was pretty sure the man didn't know either, seeing as it was too dark to see somewhere to run to. It didn't matter though, as long as they put distance between the three of them and those spider-slug things. Because he could hear hissing and scuttling behind him, growing louder. The creatures had sorted themselves out, and were now giving chase.

After a minute or two, Ryan found himself running shoulder first into a tree. He grabbed it in pain and was about to resume running when he realised that they must have reached the edge of the field. And while that put them away from his house, and therefore help, it did put them right next to…

"This way!" he said to the dark outlines of Harry and the man.

They followed without protest. It was hard to navigate in the darkness, but soon Ryan found the correct footpath, and ended up in front of the tall school gates. He pushed with all his might, but the gates wouldn't open, and in the rush he'd forgotten they were electric, controlled by a button in the school reception.

"There's no way in!" he said, panic beginning to poke through the adrenaline.

"Of course there is." said the man, pushing past Ryan. "It's just locked."

"If it's locked, that means we can't - what's that?"

The man had pulled something long and bronze out of his pocket. He pointed it at the box next to the gates, where visitors would buzz and signal the receptionist to allow entry. The bronze object glowed green and gave off a strange whirring noise. There was a metallic clang, and then suddenly the gates began to open. Ryan had no time to question how he'd done it, because even before the gates had fully opened, the man was pushing him and Harry through them. He pointed his bronze device at the box again, dodged through the gap as the gates began to close, and then set off running across the school yard and towards the main building.

Once all three were safely inside and standing in the school's reception, the man closed the doors and aimed his bronze object at them, which glowed and whirred again.

"Now, if we're lucky…" he said, moving to the windows next to the doors and peeking out through the blinds. "Yes. They can't get over the gate, they're too small. Also looks like they're trying to climb over one another; that's causing some dissention. But they'll find a way through soon enough, so we have to - …oh."

When the man turned around to face his companions, he found himself looking at a gun in the shaking hand of Crazy Harry, and it was aimed directly at his chest.

There was a brief second in which no one moved or said a word, Crazy Harry's ragged breaths the only thing to be heard. Ryan took a slow step towards him.

"Harry," said Ryan calmly. "Put the gun down."

"He crashed too." Harry growled. "You saw it. He fell from the sky, just like those… things!"

"I don't care where he came from, Harry, just put the gun down."

The man said nothing. He didn't raise his hands, he didn't beg for mercy; in fact, he showed no sign of fear whatsoever, as though guns were aimed at him on a regular basis.

"They ran after _him_." Harry said again, as though trying to convince himself more than anyone else. "Not us. They only started chasing when they saw him. He must be the cause of all this."

"None of what you're saying gives you the right to shoot him!" said Ryan.

His voice echoed in the empty room for a second, and then there was silence again. Harry looked at the man, who continued to calmly look back, while Ryan eyed Harry's finger on the trigger of the gun.

"Harry." said Ryan eventually, taking another step towards him. "You're not going to shoot him. I know you're not. And you know you're not. _He _probably knows you're not. I know you're scared, I am too. But this is wasting time, when we could be concentrating on getting out of here. So please, for God's sake. Put - the gun - down."

Harry's hand shook more than ever. He took his gaze away from the man for the first time since entering the school, and looked to Ryan. And with a heavy sigh, he dropped his hand to his side.

"Thank you." said the man, sending Ryan a small smile.

"I told him to put it down." Ryan replied, coldly. "Not to put it away."

The man's smile fell away.

Ryan could think of a million questions, but there was really only one that had been at the front of his mind since a flaming spaceship fell out the sky.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Yes," said the man, but a beat later added, "Well, no." And seeing Ryan's frustration, he again added, "Well, not yet. What I do know, is that that gate won't hold for long. And since this is the first place they'll come when they get through, standing here and questioning me is probably not the best of ideas."

Ryan and Crazy Harry shared a look. The man was, of course, right. But the fact that they still had no idea who he was, or if they could trust him, made it harder to do what he said.

"I know you have questions," said the man. "and I'll answer them, I promise. But right now, we have got to move."

There was an echoing quaking of metal from outside; the sound of the creatures gradually breaking through the gates. Ryan looked back to Harry, who nodded in reluctant agreement. But before going anywhere, Ryan still had to ask:

"Who are you?"

And despite the darkness, Ryan saw him smile.

"I'm the Doctor." he said.

* * *

_End of Chapter Two_


	3. Chapter 3

Being trapped in the school overnight had always been a childhood nightmare of Ryan's. There had just always been something so horribly wrong about the thought of those deserted hallways, those dark, empty classrooms. But Ryan tried to put those thoughts out of his head, now that he was actually running through those dark corridors.

For some reason, despite Ryan being the only one of the three who had ever been inside the building, it was the man who called himself the Doctor leading the way, he and Crazy Harry following. There were a few times when Ryan wondered if the man had any particular destination in mind or was making it up as he went along, because he would often turn corners at the last possible second, as though choosing at random.

"Perfect." he said finally, bursting into a small classroom on the school's second floor. "In here, quick."

"Are we safe in here?" asked Ryan, as the Doctor pointed his bonze thing at the classroom doors.

"Err, yes and no." he replied, avoiding Ryan's gaze.

"Well, which one is it, yes or no?

"Well, if this room is the last room they look in, then yes, we're perfectly safe. If its the first, then no. Not remotely."

He ignored Ryan and Harry's obvious frustration, running over to the other side of the room, where windows overlooked the school yard.

"Never mind the room, are they through the gates yet?" He looked out of the windows, and saw that the gates were still closed, but were shaking violently. "No. But they will be any second."

"Who are you, anyway?" asked Ryan.

"I told you," he said. "The Doctor. And you?"

"Ryan Murphy. And this is Craz - err, I mean Harry. This is Harry." Crazy Harry looked slightly offended, so Ryan moved swiftly on. "Sorry, but what's your actual name, Doctor what?"

"No, just the Doctor."

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean: just the Doctor, that's me, that's my name."

"You're called the Doctor?" said Ryan incredulously.

"I'm called the Doctor."

"Don't be ridiculous, man!" Harry snapped. "You can't just be called the Doctor!"

"Why not?"

"Because you just can't!" said Ryan.

The Doctor stepped away from the windows, frowning. "Oh, really? That's a shame. Tell you what, until I think of a new one, we'll call me 'The Artist Formerly Known As Doctor'. Or, 'Doctor', for short."

"Never mind who he is!" Crazy Harry barked from the other side of the room. "Who are _they_?" He nodded towards the windows. "You said you'd give us answers, so start talking. Explain."

"Its a long story." said the Doctor, returning to the window and the aliens' attempts to break through the gate. "And we don't have a lot of time."

In a second, Ryan had crossed the room, grabbed the Doctor by his jacket, and whipped him round to face him.

"No!" he yelled. "I was only going the shop for a loaf. And then a spaceship fell out of the sky, and now aliens are trying to kill me, and all I want to know is _what the hell is going on?"_

"Okay!" said the Doctor quickly. "Okay. Yes. Sorry."

Ryan let go and took a step away from the Doctor, who took a moment to straighten out his jacket. And then he and Harry watched as he opened his mouth, obviously starting to say something, only to close it again with a sigh. This happened a few more times, and it was only when Ryan looked to be on the verge of another outburst that the Doctor finally spat something out.

"I wasn't looking for trouble." he said. "Honestly. Just letting my ship float through space and minding my own business. Not interfering or looking for trouble or anything." He paused, and then guiltily added, "Okay, so _maybe_ I was tuning into nearby radio communications. But only because I was bit bored. Anyway, the point is I picked up a transmission from them." He nodded out of the window where the aliens were still attacking the gates. "They're a race called the Aniline, from a planet at the edge of your galaxy, Vectora. And I heard them plotting a course for Earth, but they weren't going about it the proper way. You're a level 5 planet, you see, you couldn't just have fleets of alien ships landing left and right; you lot, you'd go mad. So there are rules, protocols you have to follow, and they weren't following them. So I sent them a friendly little message asking what they were up to, and I was ignored. And then I noticed they'd increase their speed. Next thing I know I'm in a high-speed chase across the stars, flying a bit too close to moons, and then crash landing in a dark field, next to a school in the middle of nowhere."

Ryan and Harry had been lost from 'Aniline' onwards.

"I'm too old for this." grumbled Crazy Harry, pulling a chair away from one of the desks and collapsing into it, while Ryan held his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" asked the Doctor. "Did I talk too fast? Some people say I talk too fast when I'm explaining things."

"Hang on." said Ryan, rubbing his eyes. "How do you know all this?"

"All what?"

"Aliens and stuff."

"Because," the Doctor grinned. "I happen to _be_ an alien and stuff."

And before Ryan could properly process that bit of ridiculous information, Crazy Harry had sprung from his chair and pulled out his gun again.

"I knew it!" he roared.

"Harry, for God's sake!" said Ryan, immediately moving in front of the Doctor, who simply rolled his eyes at the crazy gunman.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Harry said. "Stealing my power? Stealing my television channels? I'll show you funny!"

"Harry, put the gun away!" said Ryan. "Where did you even get a gun, anyway?"

"Hang on." said the Doctor, suddenly a lot more interested. He stepped around Ryan and approached Harry. "How'd you mean, stealing your power? What's been stolen?"

"My lights have been on the blink for weeks." said Harry. "And now my BBC One has disappeared. No signal, just static. And I want it back, Doctor, whoever the hell you are. You give BBC One back right now!"

"Actually," said Ryan. "that happened to me, too. Today, my computer screen died on me. And the TV in our house has suddenly gone out. But I thought it was just a busted satellite or something?"

The Doctor didn't reply. He turned back to the window, was silent for a moment, then said,

"That's them. The lights, and the televisions; that's what they do."

"What," asked Ryan. "travel the universe and steal terrestrial television channels?"

"No." the Doctor said irritably. "Power, they absorb power. The Aniline are born with leech-like suctions on their stomachs; except it doesn't draw blood, it draws energy. Their planet has a constantly-replenishing core of pure energy, and the Aniline absorb from it and use it to power anything they need it to. Its what supplies their entire planet. And as a result, they hardly ever leave Vectora, because with an unlimited source of energy beneath them, they just don't need to."

"So what are they doing here?" asked Ryan.

"Don't know. Doesn't make any sense. If it was any other race, it'd be obvious. But the Aniline…"

"Maybe it _was _a crash landing?" Ryan offered. "An accident?"

"But they chased us." Crazy Harry reminded. "Why would they chase us if they were here by mistake?"

"No" said the Doctor. "This was planned. The power they've been stealing from you, and from probably a few others in the area, for weeks. They knew they'd need it when they got here. They're without their usual power source, so they took some from you, for anything they might need once they landed."

At that moment, the sound of the school gate crashing to the floor echoed through the room. Ryan and Harry rushed to join the Doctor at the window, getting there just in time to see a horde of Aniline swarming across the playground and heading straight for the school, their collecting hissing buzzing in the air.

Ryan swallowed, and struggled to find his voice. "What do we do?" he asked.

"We need to call someone." said Harry, much quieter than usual. "Get the Army down here. We can't do anything, anyway, just the three of us."

But they both glanced to their right, and waited to hear what the Doctor had to say. He was, quite obviously, a raving mad man, who seemed to be enjoying their predicament more than anything else. And yet, there was just something about him. Despite having only learned his name a few minutes ago, both Ryan and Harry found themselves trusting in his judgment; waiting for his go-ahead before they went any further. In this situation, he seemed like someone you ought to listen to.

The only problem was that he didn't offer any advice, instead continuing to gaze at the creatures below.

"Doctor?" prodded Ryan after a few seconds. "What do we do?"

The Doctor took a deep breath, and finally said, "Alien, spider-slug things are coming to kill us. What else is there to do?" He stepped away from the window, and grinned. "Let's go have a chat with them."

* * *

_End of Chapter Three_


	4. Chapter 4

On the way downstairs, Ryan and Harry questioned their plan of action numerous times. Surely, when dealing with vicious space spider-slugs, the best tactic was to avoid contact with them at all costs? But the Doctor would simply shrug and assure them that a nice little chat was just what the situation called for. It didn't do much to calm the fears of Ryan and Harry.

They made their way back to the small school reception they'd entered the building through, and found the doors shaking much like the school gates had been. Ryan and Harry non-verbally decided to stay as close to the back wall as possible; ready to run should the front doors fall away.

The Doctor, on the other hand, walked straight across the room, reached the windows next to the doors and drew the blinds across them, revealing a crowd of Anilines on the other side. They were huddled around the entrance, waiting patiently. The Doctor craned his neck to see what they were looking at, and saw two Aniline creatures perched on the double-doors, their bodies pressed against them as they tried to draw whatever power was keeping them closed.

He tapped on the window, drawing the Aniline's attention.

"A little after home time, isn't it?" he asked.

At the sight of him, the creatures nearest the front turned to the Aniline immediately behind them, and hissed and snarled in what was obviously a message being passed backwards. Eventually, the group parted and one creature from the very back made its way to the window. There was a ramp leading up the front doors, and a handrail next to it, which the creature scurried up in order to be face to spider-like face with the Doctor.

The Aniline fixed its many crimson eyes on the man before it. Up close, Ryan saw that the creature had pieces of skin hanging like frills over what he guessed was a mouth. The upper half of its body was covered in black hairs, but its underbelly seemed bare, apart from a long slit in the skin that Ryan caught a glimpse of, and wondered if it was what they supposedly used to draw power

The Aniline surveyed all three of them for a moment, then focused on the Doctor, and spoke in a low, gravely voice.

"You are our pursuer, I take it?"

The Doctor smiled, and nodded.

"You had no business following us." said the Aniline.

"You were speeding towards a Level 5 planet without any Shadow Proclamation approved landing site, and wouldn't respond to my com-requests." said the Doctor. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Not interfere in matters that are none of your concern." the Aniline replied.

"It became my concern when you crashed in the middle of a well-populated area, and the inhabitants of the Level 5 planet saw you." said the Doctor, gesturing towards Ryan and Harry behind him. "Do you know how these people react to foreigners? Not well. Any alien crafts wishing to touch down on the Earth, does so at a pre-arranged location, well away from prying eyes. Furthermore -"

"Thank you, but I am aware of Shadow Proclamation protocols." the Aniline interrupted.

"Then why weren't you following them?"

The Aniline blinked, the frills over its mouth twitching.

"This is none of your concern. You will not interfere." he said.

"Interfere with what?" asked the Doctor. "Because here's what I really don't understand. Anilines don't leave Vectora easily. You haven't just popped out for a bottle of milk. What are you doing here?"

There was a murmuring among the other Anilines, who evidently found the Doctor's knowledge of them unsettling. The Aniline facing the Doctor remained calm, however, and simply repeated himself.

"This is none of your concern. You will not interfere."

"Yes, I think you've mentioned that." said the Doctor, wearily. "But seeing as you're breaking galactic law, and behaving suspiciously and out of character on a planet I happen to have a special interest in, I'm making it my concern."

"Interference will result in your death." said the Aniline, stoic as ever.

"Oh, see now you're making me angry." The Doctor said. "And trust me, the very last thing you want is to see me angry."

The Aniline suddenly raised itself higher on its legs. "Threats will not be tolerated." he said quickly, and Ryan wondered if the Aniline had been waiting for the Doctor to threaten him. "Break through the doors, neutralise them." he said to the Anilines at his side, who immediately scurried up to their previous position on the doors.

Ryan and Harry edged closer to the exit, but the Doctor didn't move, didn't even glance at the Aniline on the doors, instead keeping his eyes on the one in front of him.

"Try and draw the power from those doors," he said. "and I'll send an electric pulse through them that'll fry your brain before you can say 'none of your concern'."

"And how do you expect to do that?" said the Aniline, thoroughly unconvinced.

The Doctor smirked. "Using the same device that gave you such trouble with the gates."

The Anilines on the door stopped immediately. Their eyes, and the eyes of every one of their brethren shot back to the Doctor.

"Come on." said the Doctor. "An electric school gate on a Level 5 planet? Should have taken you, what, 30 seconds? Less?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his bronze object. "I made it a bit of a challenge. The only reason you got through at all was because I wanted a nice chat."

The Aniline on the handrail glared at the Doctor.

"You're lying." he said.

"Yeah?" said the Doctor, tapping on the window with the bronze thing. "Try me."

The Doctor and the Aniline held each other's gazes for a long, silent moment. But eventually, begrudgingly, the Aniline nodded to his brothers, who obeyed and climbed off the doors.

"Okay." said the Doctor. "Talk to me. Who are you?"

"Barrd." said the Aniline. "First Imperior of the Vectoran Defence Assembly, and this" he said, gesturing to the twenty or so scowling Anilines around him, "is my tribune. And you are?"

"The Doctor. And these are my new mates Ryan and Harry." He turned back to the humans and said, "Say hello, boys."

Harry refused, merely glaring at Barrd in defiance. Ryan, however, smiled weakly.

"Alright?" he said quietly.

Barrd looked at them in annoyance.

"Now then," said the Doctor. "the Aniline wouldn't leave Vectora unless they had no choice in the matter. Unless it was vital. So tell me, what was so important?"

Barrd's mouth twitched again. And as though speaking to the Doctor was the very last thing in the universe he wanted to do, he said, "Salvation."

"Salvation?" the Doctor replied. "Interesting. Tell me more."

Barrd's eyes narrowed and he let out a growl, the sight of the Doctor's smile irritating him to no end.

"Our sun is dying." he said. "Any day now its rays will expand, roasting our planet and devouring its people. Is this something you find amusing, Doctor?"

But the Doctor was frowning now.

"No." he said, shaking his head. "No, no, no. Your sun is nowhere near expansion age, you've made a mistake."

"We did not reach such a conclusion lightly, Doctor." Barrd snapped. "We have run every tests, examined all possible scenarios and all results confirm. Unless we take immediate action, we are doomed."

"Okay, fine." said the Doctor. "Let's say you are. I mean you're not, but let's say you are. Why are you here? There's nothing on Earth that can save you. There isn't anything anywhere, the technology to hold back a sun's rays won't be invented for centuries. Once a sun starts expanding, you can't stop it."

"Incorrect." Barrd said.

The Doctor laughed. "Okay. Enlighten me. What's the plan?"

"Enough force, directed at strategic points, will hold back the rays until a more permanent solution can be formulated."

"Well, yeah." said the Doctor. "But you'd need a massive amount of power, every last bit Vectora's got. The core wouldn't have a chance to renew itself, and your planet would just end up dying anyway, so…" The Doctor trailed off, his smirk died on his face, and realisation washed over him. "Oh." he said.

"So," said Barrd. "we will use this planet."

Since the moment he'd laid eyes on him, Ryan had gotten the distinct impression that the Doctor was enjoying himself. Enjoying the chase across the field, being held at gunpoint by Harry, not knowing what the alien's intentions were; all of it. But if this was true, he wasn't enjoying himself anymore. Any trace of that mischievous, childlike grin of his was gone, replaced by both a sad disappointment in the creatures stood before him, and by something more dangerous stirring underneath.

"Doing so," he said, quietly. "would rob this planet's core of its heat, and everything that allows it to support life. You'd kill every living thing on this Earth."

"We are aware of that." Barrd replied.

"Six billion people will die!" the Doctor said, in a tone of voice that Ryan hadn't heard him use before.

"Sixteen billion lives will be lost if Vectora is destroyed." said Barrd.

"That doesn't make it right!"

Barrd didn't answer. For a brief second, Ryan thought he saw his multiple eyes flick towards himself and Harry, but then they returned to the Doctor.

"This is none of your concern." he said. "You will not interfere."

"Listen to me, all of you." said the Doctor, addressing every Aniline in front of him, with desperation creeping into his voice. "Your sun is not dying. I promise you. You've made a mistake. Do not murder six billion people over a mistake!"

"You have protected yourself inside this building, Doctor." said Barrd, ignoring the Doctor's comments. "We advise you to leave this planet as soon as possible. Any further attempts to interfere will result in your death." Barrd turned to his troops. "Retreat. Return to the field, unload the life preservers."

The crowd of Aniline did as they were told, though a few gave the Doctor a hiss before they scuttled back towards the school gates.

"Let me help you." said the Doctor, pressing his face against the glass in an attempt to get as close to Barrd as possible. "Even if your planet is in danger, I can help! You don't have to do this."

"You said it yourself, Doctor." Barrd replied. "You know of no other way to stop a sun expanding. This is our only hope for salvation."

"_This is not salvation!_" the Doctor roared. "_This is genocide!_"

"We do not take pleasure in it, Doctor," said Barrd, beginning to climb back to the floor. "but we have no other choice. We are doomed."

"Oh, Barrd, you don't know the meaning of the word. But I promise you, if you don't stop this, right now, I will make sure you never forget it!"

Barrd stopped, turned around and climbed back up. He mirrored the Doctor, bringing his horrible, hairy face and red-tinted eyes to rest against the window.

"This," he growled. "is _none_ of your concern, and you will _not_ interfere!"

And Bard climbed to the floor and set off the same way his troops had.

"Last chance!" the Doctor called after him.

But Barrd never looked back.

* * *

_End of Chapter Four_


	5. Chapter 5

**I'd just like to mention that while it is great to get messages saying someone has subscribed to a story, because ****it ****let's you know people are reading, a ****lot ****more people have done that than actually reviewed. **

**So if you reading this story and you haven't reviewed yet, just a few lines about what you're thinking so far; what you like, what you don't like; would really help a lot. And to those who already have commented, thanks a million and keep them coming, they're very much appreciated. **

**Anyway, here's Chapter Five...**

* * *

The Doctor's head popped up from under the receptionist desk, behind which he'd been fiddling with wires and plugs for the past few minutes, and he looked at his two companions inquisitively.

"This place, does it have a nuclear reactor?" he asked. But before either Ryan or Harry even had a chance to answer, he smacked himself on the head. "No, of course it hasn't. Why would a school have a nuclear reactor? Shame. Could do with a nuclear reactor." And with that, he disappeared back under the desk.

"Doctor." said Harry. "We need to get help."

"I know." came the Doctor's voice. "That's what I'm looking for. Anything that could help us, anything we could use against them."

Harry shook his head. "I mean, we need to call someone, get the Army down here!"

"No, no, no, no." the Doctor replied, some wires flying over the desk as he did. "We get the Army and they'll start firing left and right; next thing you know that field will be full of dead Anilines everywhere you step."

"Exactly!" Harry cried. "We need to blow 'em all to pieces!"

The Doctor stopped his fiddling instantly. He got to his feet, climbed back over the desk, and walked right across the room, stopping only when he was face to face with Crazy Harry.

"That," he said, quietly. "is exactly what doesn't need to happen. I am going to put an end to this before it even starts, and I'm going to do it without losing a single life. Human or otherwise."

"Don't be stupid, man." Harry shot back, showing no sign of intimidation. "They'll kill us all while you're playing around in here. We need to attack first! Tell him, lad."

Ryan had been taking a quiet moment to himself in the corner of the room. But suddenly he found both Crazy Harry and the Doctor gazing at him expectantly.

"I… think we should call for help." he said.

The Doctor looked at him. "And when help murders every one of those Anilines?"

"Doctor." Ryan said. "They're gonna destroy the whole planet. We've got no choice."

"No!" the Doctor said instantly. "We always have a choice. It's not always the easiest one, or the clearest. But you always, _always_, have a choice. And I'm making that choice, right now. Nobody dies today. Everybody got that?"

"But -" Harry started.

"No buts!" said the Doctor. "Any Human wanting to kill Anilines or vice-versa will have to get through me first. Is that clear?"

Harry clenched his jaw and looked away.

"Yeah, it's clear." he grumbled.

"Good." said the Doctor, and he took a step back to a less confrontational stance. "Now, we're wasting time. There has to be something in this building we can use." And then, so loud that Ryan jumped, he suddenly cried, "Wi-Fi!"

"Wi-Fi?" Ryan asked, watching him jump back over the receptionist's desk and sit down in front of the computer.

"Wi-Fi." said the Doctor. "You can do amazing things with Wi-Fi. Create viruses, download films, unleash electro-magnetic pulses." But his grin slipped away when the computer screen failed to light up. "However, all of those things require the computer using the Wi-Fi to be able to turn on." He thrust the keyboard away from him in anger. "No power. They've started."

"What do we do then?" asked Ryan, watching the Doctor step away from the desk and start to pace around the room.

"I don't know." he mumbled. "Think, think, think. Okay: the Aniline, what do we know about them?"

"Er… their sun's dying." Ryan offered helpfully.

The Doctor shook his head irritably. "Their sun is not dying."

"Well they seemed pretty sure."

"Well, they're wrong, aren't they? They've miscalculated, they must've done. Or they're being lied to; I don't know, but their sun is not dying, trust me. Now, come on, what do we know?"

It only then that Ryan realised he wasn't just speaking aloud, he was actually asking him.

"I don't know." he said. "I didn't even know they existed till an hour ago, you're the one from outer space."

"Exactly!" said the Doctor, bounding over to him. "You have a fresh perspective; you might have picked up on the important thing I'm missing. So tell me, everything you've learned in the last hour, which bits spring to mind instantly?"

"Err," said Ryan, trying to force himself to remember something useful. "They make their own power?"

"Yes, yes." the Doctor nodded. "What else?"

"They're all spider-y, don't like leaving their planet, I don't know!"

"Well, think!"

"I am!" Ryan snapped. "But I was a bit distracted from expanding suns and the life preservers by the fact that _they're from another planet and they're trying to kill me!_"

"Oh, half the people on your own planet are trying to kill you, get a grip." The Doctor turned away from him in irritation, but then spun around a second later "Hang on. Life preservers?"

"What?" said Ryan.

"Life preservers, you said life preservers."

"So?"

"Who said anything about life preservers?"

"Barrd did."

"When?"

"When you were threatening him. He turned to the other things and he said 'set up the life preservers'."

The Doctor was silent for a second, but soon his eyes began to roam all over the room, as if he was replaying his confrontation with Barrd in his head. Then he looked back to Ryan, and in an astonished voice, he proclaimed:

"Life preservers. They've got life preservers."

And suddenly he looked as though he wanted to run in a million directions at once, finally deciding on the doorway back into the dark corridors. "To the roof!" he said, dashing out of the room. Ryan heard his footsteps go along the hall, stop abruptly, and then come back. "Which way's the roof?"

Ryan sighed and ran ahead of him, leading him up three flights of stairs until they finally kicked open the heavy door that led out onto the roof of the building.

"So." said Ryan. "Are you gonna explain why we're on the roof, or do I have to bring a fresh perspective to it?"

The Doctor gave him a wry smile, and walked right to the edge of the roof. "Think about it, Aniline's hardly ever leave Vectora."

"Yeah, because they make their own power, self-sufficient, I got all that stuff."

"Yes, but what if it's more than that? What if, after all these years of absorbing this power, generation after generation of Anilines having this energy in their body; what if they've become reliant on it? What if their entire biological makeup has become so used to it being in their system that they can't survive without it?"

Ryan walked to the edge to stand next to him, and saw what he was gazing at. Beyond the roof, they could see over the trees and into the field next to the school where, illuminated by the fire of their crash landing, groups of Anilines were huddled around three triangular, glass structures. Inside of these triangles was a golden mist that glittered in the night.

"Life preservers!" said the Doctor, pulling a tiny pair of binoculars out of his jacket and holding them up to his face. "There's a gazillion planets out there, all with different atmospheres. Different air and environments. So when species visit other planets with different atmospheres, they take life preservers with them."

"What," said Ryan. "in case they get lost at sea?"

"What? No, look." said the Doctor, handing him the binoculars.

Through them, Ryan could see the Aniline troops making sure the life preservers were safely dug into the earth, while others stood around each of them, their eyes flicking about the surrounding area, in search of troublemakers. But the thing that most caught Ryan's eye, was that, if he looked hard enough, he could see tiny clouds of the golden mist occasionally float out of their glass cases and into a nearby Aniline.

"See?" the Doctor said. "Life preservers hold a healthy supply of alien atmosphere, or whatever the species needs to survive on another planet. In this case, Vectorian energy, which every Aniline is feeding on. But here's the best bit! Because if something was to happen to a life preserver; let's say, I don't know, an insanely handsome man in a bow tie smashes them; then the life preservers automatically transmat all travellers back to their original planet of origin before they die from the alien conditions. And that's how we're gonna do it!"

"Do what?" said Ryan, taking the binoculars away to look at the beaming Doctor.

"End this without losing a single life."

Ryan couldn't help but smile back, and looked again in amazement at the alien race, going about their mission in a military fashion.

"That's a first." said the Doctor, getting Ryan's attention again.

"What is?" he asked.

"You're smiling. I've known you for an hour and a half, first time I've ever seen you smile."

Ryan supposed that was true, but for good reason.

"You've barely stopped." he said in reply. "Why do I get the feeling you do this a lot? Danger and monsters, and life or death?"

"Well," the Doctor said bashfully. "I just look for adventures. It's hardly my fault if things usually end up this way."

Ryan shook his head. "How can you live like that?"

The Doctor smiled again, with a hint of sadness this time. "Where I come from, it was always "Do this, do that, and do it exactly how everyone else does." So many rules and laws and traditions to stick to, I nearly suffocated. So I ran away. And now I go wherever I want, whenever I want. And I do it for fun, not because other people want me to do it. Does that really sound so terrible?"

No, Ryan thought. To him it sounded amazing. A life he could never lead.

"Hang on." said the Doctor suddenly, looking around the rooftop. "Where's Harry?"

Ryan realised he hadn't heard Harry say a word since his confrontation with the Doctor, and was nowhere to be seen on the roof.

"Did he follow us up?" he asked.

"I don't know." said the Doctor.

A slam echoed through the night. The Doctor and Ryan gave each other a look, then ran to the other side of the roof, overlooking the front of the school. There, they saw Crazy Harry running towards the school gates, with his gun in hand.

"Oh, no." said Ryan, turning and seeing the Doctor already running for the stairs.

* * *

Imperior Barrd was perched on top of the Aniline spacecraft, supervising his troops. Once the life preservers where in place and his soldier's lives where safe, they would begin the absorption process. He could tell his brethren were itching to start now and get it over with, but safety came first.

Suddenly, there was a murmuring amongst the Anilines, and one of them called out for Barrd's attention. The commander turned with irritated eyes to see what had interrupted his troops.

One of the humans who had been with the Doctor was standing before them, his hand outstretched, pointing a weapon of sorts at the commander's head.

"One chance." the human said. "Leave, now. Or I'll blow every one of those eyes out of your head."

* * *

The Doctor and Ryan jumped over what was left of the school gates, heading for the footpath that led onto the field. Ryan strained his ears, hoping to hear some sign of Crazy Harry not too far away. But there was nothing.

They could see the trees at the edge of the field now, but no Harry. Which meant that he must already be on the other side of them.

* * *

"Did you hear me?" said Harry, when none of the Anilines showed any signs of moving. "I said go. Get off of our planet, now."

But the Anilines remained exactly where they had been before he'd interrupted them, keeping a few eyes on Harry while others glanced to their superior.

"Human." said Barrd, calmly. "We are under strict orders not to attack any inhabitant of this planet unless they pose a direct threat to us or our objective. Provoke us and you will die."

"Not to attack us? You're here to destroy our bloody planet!"

"We are here to do as we have been told, anything that happens afterwards is the problem of this planet's people."

"Yeah, and I'm solving it."

His troops inched closer to the human, and looked for permission. But Barrd silently told them to hold their positions.

"This is your last chance, human." he said.

"No it's _your_ last chance." said the human, looking increasingly unstable. "So get in your spaceship, shove off, _and give me back BBC One!_"

* * *

Ryan pushed a branch out of his face and finally laid eyes on Harry, locked in a standoff. He opened his mouth to call out to the old man, to tell him to stop and run, but too late.

Harry had put his finger on the trigger, which upon seeing, Barrd immediately gave the go-ahead for his soldiers to pounce. Three of them took him to ground. They dug their pincers into his skin, but it wasn't until the long slit on their underbelly touched him that Crazy Harry started to scream. His body began to convulse, arms and legs kicking out in all directions. His skin stretched across his bones, as though being pulled away.

And then the screaming stopped, and all that was left was a smoking skeleton, and a Sherlock Holmes-like hat.

* * *

_End of Chapter Five_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again. Let's be honest "Two more episodes before Christmas." was never going to happen, was it? Even less so when I had a run in with a cold that just didn't want to die. But anyway, I'm *hoping* to be updating a lot quicker now we're in the New Year.**

**On with the show:**

* * *

For a moment, Ryan couldn't feel anything. It was as though the entire world had gone dark, save for a spot a few feet away from him, where smoke was floating away from someone he used to know.

However, he gradually became aware of a tugging on his arm. The Doctor was trying to pull him away.

But Ryan didn't move. He couldn't. He made no attempt to, but with his body transfixed on the burnt corpse in front of him, he somehow knew his legs wouldn't lift if he asked them to.

But the Doctor was adamant.

"Ryan." he said. "We have to go."

Ryan shook his head slightly; hoping it would convey the message his mouth could not, and inform the Doctor that his legs, and evidently his vocal cords, had stopped working.

The Doctor moved in front of him, trying to block his view of his dead friend and force his attention onto him. He put both his hands on Ryan's shoulders.

"Listen to me, we can't stay -"

But Ryan shrugged his hands off of him, angrily trying to push him out of the way. Why didn't he understand that his legs had stopped working? They'd died along with Crazy Harry.

"No, Ryan, look at me." said the Doctor, overpowering him and grabbing his shoulders again "_Look at me!_"

Ryan did, but only so he would see how angry he was making him, and hopefully force him to back down. A plan which failed when he saw the look of incredible pity in the Doctor's eyes. And for some reason, that, more than seeing the actual murder and the body left behind, made him realise that Crazy Harry was dead.

"Doctor." he spoke, trying to fight a sob back down his throat. "Doctor, they…"

"I know." said the Doctor. "I know, I'm sorry. But we have got to go, or we'll end up the same. Please, Ryan. Now."

The wind had stolen much of the smoke from the body now. Ryan gave one last look, and allowed the Doctor to pull him away.

He was surprised, after a moment or two of running, to find himself being pushed through a wooden door into a tiny room. It was true that he had been far too preoccupied to pay attention, but he had generally assumed they would be going back to the school. This was a place he had never been before. There was a battered chair in the centre, in front of a small television on top of a chest of drawers, and a single bed against the back wall. It was few second before Ryan realised they'd entered Crazy Harry's hut of a home.

"We can't go back to the school." said the Doctor, answering Ryan's unasked question. He pushed aside the curtains of a small window and looked out. "Now that one of us have attacked them, Barrd might decide to take us out before we do the same."

But Ryan had stopped listening. On the wall above the television were framed, black and white photos of Harry's youth. A young Harry held a beautiful woman close to him. Both smiling at the camera, both deliriously happy. In another, Harry and the same woman were surrounded by three children; two boys and a girl. People Harry would never see again. Although, Ryan thought, looking around the room, if the people in the photos were still around, then why was Harry living alone in a shack?

"I'm sorry." said the Doctor from behind him.

"You've already said." Ryan replied, unaware it would come out so angry.

But the Doctor showed no sign of offence, just nodded. "I know." he said. "But I am. Were you close?"

"Didn't even know his last name. Crazy Harry, we called him. He was the mad bloke who the kids threw stones at to get chases. Always ranting about aliens and UFOs. And no one ever believe him." He looked at the photos again. "Crazy Harry. More like Lonely Harry."

Ryan felt a sudden wave of emotion overcome him, a dizzying mix of grief and shock. He took a deep breath and sat himself down on the floor, back to the wall. A moment later, and the Doctor sat down next to him.

After a moment or two of silence, the Doctor suddenly spoke.

"That was your school we were in, I take it?"

Ryan looked at him. What did that have to do with anything?

"The school, the one we hid in." The Doctor said. "You knew your way around it, I assumed it was your school?"

"Yes." he answered, somewhat irritably, but then added, "I mean no. No, it wasn't. Not anymore. Today was my last day."

The Doctor smiled sympathetically. "Expelled?"

"What? No! It was just the last day, I've done every year. No more school. On to Uni."

"Oh." said the Doctor. "Well, good for you."

Ryan nodded unenthusiastically. "Yeah. Thanks" he mumbled.

"Ah." said the Doctor, with a knowing smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"Well, it's just… When you go through a big change like leaving school, you're either excited about the future, or scared of it."

"I am not scared of the future." said Ryan with disdain.

The Doctor just smirked again, in a way which Ryan was finding increasingly annoying, so Ryan shook his head and sighed.

"It's like… You spend your entire youth waiting for it to end, you know? Waiting until you don't have to get up at 9 in the morning and go to school. Waiting until you can move out so you don't have to do the dishes when your Mum tells you to, and come in of a night any time you want. And then that day comes. When everything changes. And you realise you kind of liked the way things were."

"I understand." the Doctor said. "But, you know, that's just part of life. This might be the end of a lot things, but it's also the beginning of what comes next."

"I know, I get all that 'Life is a journey' stuff. I do. And it's a good course I'm doing, at a good University. And I never wanted to stay here forever, I always wanted to get out and see the world. But… that doesn't make moving halfway across the country and leaving everyone I know behind any easier."

The Doctor nodded, and smiled sympathetically. "Probably doesn't help that your Mum and Dad couldn't be happier about the whole thing?" he said, and when Ryan sent him a perplexed look, he added, "Parents. Never change, no matter what planet your on."

"They're just proud." Ryan admitted. "And excited. Same with my mates, they can't wait to get to Uni. But me…" He sighed again, and gave the Doctor a small smile. "Moving on; it's overrated."

"Tell me about it." said the Doctor. "I mean, just recently, a couple of friends of mine, Amy and Rory, travelled with me. They moved on." He paused for a second. "Overrated indeed."

Ryan didn't know whether to say he was sorry or not; what exactly did he mean by 'moved on'?

"Anyway." the Doctor said before he could decide. "Don't worry. Every big change is scary at first, but you'll be fine. You'll be a student! Late night parties, and pot noodles, and dangerous amounts of alcohol. Or so I'm told."

Ryan laughed. "Yeah. Something like that. And yeah, I will be fine. When it actually happens. The waiting is the worst part, leaves with me with too much time to over-think things, and come up with crazy ideas of how I can escape it. I probably should have taken a gap year."

"A what?" asked the Doctor.

"A gap year. It's this thing where you take a year off in between school and university. Go travelling and stuff. Adventures and the like. That would have fun. Shame, too late now."

"Yeah." said the Doctor, thoughtfully. "Well, you know, maybe you could, I don't know, come with - "

"Besides." interrupted Ryan, his tone darkening as he looked out the window. "There might not be a planet left for me to go to University on."

"Don't be stupid." the Doctor replied sternly. "Of course there will. We've got a plan, the life preservers. Just got to find the right moment."

The was an audio crackling from the other side of the room, and a muffled voice became steadily clearer.

"This message is being broadcast on all Earth frequencies in the hope that it will find the Doctor." came Barrd's gravely voice.

"Or wait for the right moment to find us." said the Doctor. He sprang up and walked over to the chest of drawers, where the sound was emanating from.

He pulled open the top drawer and produced a battered two-way war radio; a large green box with a speaker on the front, and a communicator attached by wire. The Doctor placed the radio on the chest of drawers, and listened to Barrd's voice crawling out of it.

"We have searched the school inside out and found no trace of you, which leads me to believe and hope that you have vacated the planet. If that is not the case, then I must again warn you - "

"No trace of me?" said the Doctor, and Ryan realised he'd picked up the communicator and was speaking into it. "You want to get your eyes checked mate. All thirty of them. 'Cos I'm still here. I'm always here."

"Then I warn you again - "

But the Doctor again cut Barrd off.

"Like you warned Harry, before you killed him?"

"The human was given multiple chances to walk away, he chose to attack us and left me no choice. He had to be neutralized."

"Stop that." the Doctor snapped. "Stop using military vernacular to make yourself feel better. Let's call it was it is: Murder. You murdered him."

There was low growl from the speaker. "We are here, Doctor, to complete a mission of utmost importance. The survival of our planet rests on our shoulders. If a human tries to prevent us from completing that mission, we have been given full authorization to remove them from the equation. And that goes for yourself, and your remaining human friend. Interfere and you will die. If this planet must fall for ours to go on, so be it. But we wish for that to happen in the most humane way possible."

The Doctor laughed. "Humane genocide. Well, well. 900 years, and that's a first. You truly are deluded aren't you, Imperior?"

The speaker was silent for a moment, and when Barrd spoke again, it was with an air of finality. "You will not leave?"

"Never." the Doctor replied.

"Then you will meet your end tonight."

The audio crackled again, and went silent.

* * *

A few streets away, in the local police station, Officer Cartwright wondered if she was going round the bend. She had been directing a Police car to the site of a nearby disturbance over the station's radio, when she suddenly found herself listening in on a bizarre conversation.

She took off her headset and placed it on the desk in front of her, turning to Doug at the desk across from her, who she was relieved to see was looking just as clueless.

"Did you just get that?" she asked him.

"Humane genocide?"

"Yeah." she said, and while Doug picked up the phone on his desk and started dialling a number, she called out to her superior who was on the other side of the room. "Excuse me, Sergeant Dalton?"

Dalton put down his cup of tea and made his way over to her. "Cartwright?" he said.

"Sorry, sir, but something weird's just happened. I think we must have had been picking up BBC Radio 7 or something, but for a second there all I could hear were two men talking nonsense."

"Sir," said Doug to Dalton, momentarily taking the phone away from his ear. "I'm on the phone to emergency services, they had it too."

"Sorry, sir." said Cartwright. "But aren't we two of the most secure communication systems in the country. How could we just be completely taken over?"

Before the Sergeant could reply, the lights above their heads blinked, and suddenly the office was flooded with darkness.

Meanwhile, Karen Murphy found herself looking out of her kitchen blinds for the umpteenth time.

"I am going to kill that lad when he gets home." she said, and stormed into the living room, where her husband was staring at the television in confusion. "Nearly two hours ago I sent Ryan for that bread." she said to him. "He's probably decided to go round to Craig's again without telling me. And I'll bet you anything he leaves that loaf in their house!"

She trailed off when she saw that Jack wasn't listening to her, so she turned her attention to see what he was so focused on. The BBC One ident filled the television screen, while the continuity announcer apologised to viewers for the interruption.

"What's he apologising for?" she asked.

"Dunno," said Jack. "It was weird. Right in the middle of Eastenders, the sound went out, and then there was these two voices speaking about… planets or something."

"Planets?"

"I don't know, I think so. But…"

The TV screen flickered, and then went out completely. A few seconds later, and every light in the entire house did the same.

* * *

"Doctor." said Ryan, trying to get to his feet but struggling as the floor beneath him began to quake. "What's happening?"

They both rushed, unsteadily, to the tiny window and looked out.

Sharp, tendril-like wires had burst out of the Aniline ship and pierced into the ground. They located every power line, connected themselves to every wireless technology, locked on to every source of power on the entire planet, and began to absorb.

The lights in the Murphy home and Police Station weren't the only ones to go out. In seconds, the whole city was powerless. Seconds later, and the country went down too. And then, before anyone had a chance to react, the whole of planet Earth went dark. Every electronic device died. Anything with a power source failed. Mankind's energy became the Aniline's.

But it was worse was that. Because the manufactured energy wouldn't be enough to save Vectora. So the wires kept digging, diving down and down towards the core of the planet.

"And when they reach it." said the Doctor. "They'll steal every last bit of life it has."

Ryan turned away, unable to stand and do nothing any longer. "So what do we do?" he said.

The Doctor didn't answer. He walked back over to the chest of drawers where he'd found the radio, and opened the top drawer again. He looked down at what was inside for a few seconds, then reached in, and pulled out a handgun.

* * *

_End of Chapter Six_

* * *

**Only 2 more Chapters left in this episode, I think. Some more reviews would be lovely, too. As I said, author/story alerts are much appreciated, but a few lines on how you think things are going would be fantastic.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I was originally going to split this into two parts, but I couldn't find a good stopping point. So instead, here's a bumper length FINAL chapter. Yes, this is the end of episode one (finally). You can find a preview for the rest of the series at the bottom of the page, and I'm hoping to start posting episode 2 in the next week or two. I hope anyone reading this will stick with me, and maybe drop me a review or two? :D**

**Anyway, Chapter Seven...**

* * *

Ryan had never known darkness like the kind that was waiting for him outside of Crazy Harry's hut. The only visible source of light came from the other side of the field, where the glittering gold mist inside the triangular glass life preservers shone in the night. But unless he was facing in that direction, Ryan may as well have clenched his eyes shut. His view would have been exactly the same.

"Tell you what…" came the Doctor's voice from inside the wooden house. "Crazy Harry went to war. And he brought back some souvenirs, by the looks of things. There's half an armoury in this draw; guns, war radios, flares. Is that a EMP? Blimey."

"Doctor." Ryan interrupted. "Complete and utter darkness? Earth under attack? Can we focus on that for second?"

"Yes. Sorry." he said, appearing in the doorway, illuminated by the green glow of his bronze object. "But still, y'know. EMP."

He came and stood next to Ryan, and together they looked towards the only thing possible to see; the Aniline crash site and the golden glass triangles. Every now and then a silhouette of a passing Aniline could be seen, but not much else.

"So." Ryan said. "There's really no light, anywhere on Earth?"

"No electricity." the Doctor corrected. "In Australia they'll be fine. Or are they just waking up." He frowned, and looked at his watch. "Too many time-zones on this planet, very confusing."

Ryan looked up at the sky, and shook his head. "The whole world must be going mad."

"Probably." the Doctor nodded. "Pretty much everything runs on electricity these day, you don't even notice it. And then suddenly its gone and you don't know why. That's got to be scary. And you lot, when you get scared, some of you have a tendency to make very bad decisions. One of two very important reasons we need to end this quickly."

"And the second?"

The Doctor looked across the field. A few feet away from the Aniline ship, something else caught the occasional flicker of light.

"There's a little blue box on that field." he said. "The most impossible blue box ever. And it's only a matter of time before the Aniline realise how impossible it really is. And when they do, Ryan Murphy, today won't just go down in history as your last day of school. It'll be the last day of everything."

Ryan frowned, remembering the blue box the Doctor had crashed in. It hadn't looked all that impossible to him. Hadn't it been wooden?

"So!" said the Doctor suddenly. "You better be off."

Ryan turned back to him in surprise. "What?"

"Sorry." said the Doctor, and looking like he genuinely meant it. "Normally, I'd let you come with me. But the Aniline, they're not themselves. This isn't them, this isn't their race. I'm in the dark here, in more ways then one. The point being, I can't protect you like I usually could. You're not safe. So go on, home. Your poor mother'll be worried out of her mind. And best leave the loaf, I think. They'll be no toast in the morning, but on the bright side, they'll be a morning in which to have no toast."

He grinned that grin of his, and set off walking in the direction of the spaceship.

"Doctor!" Ryan called after him. "You can't go on your own, they'll kill you! You don't even have a plan."

The Doctor pointed his bronze object at Ryan's face so he could see him, not really realising he was blinding Ryan.

"'Course I've got a plan. I don't just carry handguns around for fun, you know." He held the gun out in front of him, testing the weight of it. "Those life preservers need to shatter so the emergency transmat will kick in. A good blast from the sonic would do it, but only if I get closer than the Aniline would let me. A gun on the other hand, will work a charm. Three shots, from distance, one bullet for each life preserver. Quick, easy, nobody dies. See, I do have plan, I have a perfect plan. For a change."

"But… on your own?" said Ryan, still trying to shield his eyes from the intense glow of the Doctor's bronze torch-thingy.

"No choice." said the Doctor. "Can't risk you coming along, and, well… there isn't anyone else." That sentence had ended on rather a sadder note than which it had begun.

"Okay." said Ryan, still fighting against the green glow. Every time he managed to block it with his hand, the Doctor simply manoeuvred it back to his face. It was beginning to give him a headache . "But, the Police - "

"The Police," said the Doctor, taking a step back over to Ryan, which only increased the level of brightness stinging against his eyes. "are in all likelihood a bit busy at the moment, wondering why the flashy things on top of their cars that make that brilliant 'wee-ooo' sound, have suddenly stopped working. Besides, I've already told you, the Police show up and they'll only want to start a fight."

With the Doctor's green light furiously attacking his face, Ryan was forced to clench his eyes shut, and in frustration he yelled. "Well what else can we do? We don't have any choice!"

And then the light was gone. Because the Doctor had finally dropped the bronze thingy from his face while he closed the distance between them. Ryan's anger instantly evaporated as the Doctor came intimidatingly close.

"Yes, we do." the Doctor fumed. "We always do. That's just something men with guilty consciences say to help them sleep at night. Didn't you hear Barrd on the radio? His reason for killing Harry? He posed a threat to Barrd's mission, and so Barrd had no choice. Now, does make you feel any better about his murder?"

Ryan saw a sudden flash of that smoking corpse. "No." he mumbled

"And if I go over there, and put a bullet in an Aniline's head, and then go back to Vectora and tell his family that I had no other choice, will that make it okay?"

Ryan realised he hadn't even considered the Anilines having families. They had just been the alien invaders to him.

"No." he said, admitting it to himself more than the Doctor.

"We always have a choice Ryan. I know, I've had to make it on more occasions than I care to think about. And you know something? I made my choices, and I'll have to live with them. But I made them without any delusions of fate forcing my hand."

Ryan dropped his gaze to the floor, feeling stupid to have even brought it up.

The sound of boots on grass made him look up again. The Doctor had once more started to walk away.

"Doctor, you can't go on your own. You just can't."

"I have to." said the Doctor, turning back to him.

"Why?"

"Because… sometimes, that's just who I am." He shrugged, sadly, then gave a small smile. "Go home, Ryan. Don't worry about me."

This time, there was no grin as he walked away.

* * *

Ryan Murphy had put it best. The world was going mad.

At first, most people had assumed it was a simple power failure on their street. But then they realised their mobile phones were not working, or their watches. Things that ran on batteries, things that by all rights should have been working, but for some reason, were not.

Soon people started to go out of their houses, finding their neighbours in the same situation. And the people on the next street. And the next. Before long, stories began to spread that the whole city had gone out, the whole country.

But in reality, it was every country.

The Eiffel Tower stood in darkness. Time Square's bright lights were dead. Big Ben's hands had ceased to move. The Sydney Opera House woke up in glorious sunshine, though, and not many people realised anything was even wrong.

But when the floor started to quake, the human race really started to panic.

* * *

The Doctor winced as he stood on a particularly loud twig. He quickly looked up at the Aniline crash site he was headed towards, and sighed in relief when the Aniline showed no signs of alarm, continuing to go about their business.

The flames from the Aniline ship's atmospheric-decent were still cackling away on the massive, meteor-shaped hull. Directly in front of it was a life preserver, the other two placed on either side of the ship, about 10ft apart. The tribune had separated into three distinct groups, he saw, each with a different task. Each life preserver had been assigned three or four Anilines to both stand guard and ensure everything was in working order. The second group were huddled around the wires that had pierced the Earth's flesh, watching as pure energy pulsed through them. They often pressed their underbellies into the surrounding grass, stealing a kick of the power for themselves. The rest simply stood on the edges of the crash site, looking out into the pitch black for anyone foolish enough to interfere. Joining them in this task was Imperior Barrd, who was perched on top of their ship with vigilance shining in his blood red eyes.

The Doctor quickly looked between the Aniline troops and the life preservers, calculating where it would be best to shoot from, and where he was least likely to be seen. He spotted a group of trees on the other side of the crash site, which would keep him hidden as he prepared his shots. He was careful to keep his distance as he circled the crash site, not wanting to be illuminated by the life preserver's glow. His brilliant plan relied completely on the element of surprise, something he would have voiced if there had been anyone with him to voice it to.

The Doctor sighed at the thought. He missed Amy and Rory terribly, as he missed them all. It never got any easier.

He had briefly considered asking Ryan to join him when this was all over, but had since decided this might not be the best idea. He was too young, for starters, not even 18 years old. Not to mention that this whole University thing was an important step for him. He needed to face his fear of change head on.

Then again, he thought as he continued softly treading towards his destination (too busy to notice the Aniline sentries beginning to fan out), lots of people went on around-the-world-trips in the summer before Uni. The Doctor, however, could offer around-the-universe, and drop him back home in time for freshers week. It was certainly better than Ryan sitting at home all summer.

No, he thought forcefully, he wouldn't talk himself into this. If he wanted to act all whiny and lonely, that was his problem, and whisking Ryan away was not the solution.

Besides, all this 'got no choice' business had the Doctor worried. Ryan seemed like a good lad, of course, and the Doctor blamed it on fear, and being in a mad situation. But fear and mad situations were kind of a recurring theme in TARDIS travels. He needed someone who understood that fear was not an excuse to kill. And, sadly, it seemed as though that wasn't Ryan Murphy. He may have gotten through to him in their last conversation, but there was no way to be sure, and he couldn't afford to take the risk.

He shook his head of all these thoughts, and focused on the task at hand. He was just about to look up and see how much further he had to sneak, when he nearly tripped over something at knee-height.

He stumbled, regaining his balance, and glanced back at what he'd almost stood on. It's multiple legs seemed to be having trouble standing up in the mud, so the Doctor offered a helping hand.

"Oh, I do apologise. Sorry, I was miles away there." he said, helping the creature back to it's feet. "Are you alright?"

The Aniline looked up at him with bewildered, yet still blood red, eyes.

The Doctor looked back.

"Oh." he said. "…sorry again?"

The creature hissed, and the Doctor took off in the other direction.

* * *

"Ow!" said Ryan, as someone else bumped into him. This time he reached out for their arm. "Sorry, but what street am I on? I'm looking for - "

"Sorry, lad, I can't!" said the man, and went off into the crowd of people lining the streets.

Ryan looked around, and finally admitted to himself that he was well and truly lost.

Despite having lived next to this field his entire life, he was having a hard time finding his way home in the absence of street lights, or any light for that matter. It didn't help that the streets were full of people running past and bumping into him from all directions, shouting out for people they'd lost in the panic, asking if anyone knew how much of city the blackout had covered, and what was the weird light coming from the field. The ground shaking beneath their feet didn't exactly make things easier or calmer either.

But the thing making it hardest to find his way home, was his gut, admonishing him for leaving the Doctor on his own, and urging him to go back. But the Doctor was right, he told himself. It was too dangerous, and best left to the people who knew what they were doing.

Although, the Doctor didn't exactly fit the description of someone who knew what he was doing. He was surely at just as much risk as Ryan would be, even more so with no one to help him.

He found himself thinking of Harry, and how the Anilines had left him when they were finished. He wouldn't let that happen again, not to the Doctor. Not to the one person who was risking his life to save a planet he wasn't even from.

Someone else ran past, screaming that his Blackberry had died, and bumped right into Ryan, spinning him around to face the field again. He saw the glow of the life preservers through the trees, told himself he must be out of his mind, and started running back the way he'd came.

* * *

At the sound of gunshots, the tribune of Anilines immediately stopped what they were doing and turned. The Doctor ran right into the centre of the crash site, firing his handgun repeatedly into the air.

"Look at me!" he bellowed. "I'm mad, and I've got a gun! Stay back or I'll be forced to… do mad stuff!"

The Aniline who had chased him came to a stop next to the spaceship, and looked up at Barrd.

"Found him on the edge of the field, Imperior." he half hissed, half panted. "He has a weapon."

For a second, the Doctor glanced to the life preserver in front of him, and the two others at either side of the crash site. He thought about attempting to smash all three there and then, but he would have been killed as soon as he fired the first shot. So, while he came up with what he was sure would be a spectacular new plan, he stalled.

"A dangerous weapon." he said. "A dangerous weapon of death! So don't come any closer. And stop the drilling, or absorbing, or whatever you want to call it. Stop it now or I'll… do mad stuff with this gun, like I said, you might remember, just a few seconds ago."

Much like the last time an intruder had threatened them, the tribune of Anilines merely turned to their Imperior and awaited orders. For the moment, however, Barrd simply glared at the Doctor, crawling down the spaceship and placing himself on the ground.

"Is this it?" he asked. "I must admit I expected more from you, Doctor, than simply threatening us in the same way your human friend did earlier. Unsuccessfully."

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "The human's name was Harry. And he died trying to save his planet, which is a lot more honourable than what you're doing, so I'd think again before you disrespect his memory."

At the increased anger in the Doctor's tone, the Aniline's once again looked to Barrd. But Barrd gave no order; the Doctor's gun was still in the air, and so, at this moment anyway, posed no direct threat. Until it did, they could not act.

"We are performing the highest honour!" said Barrd, scurrying a few feet closer to him. Behind the Doctor, exactly as they had done with Crazy Harry, the Anilines were closing in. "We have travelled across the stars, and when we return we will bring with us the gift of salvation. We will save sixteen billion lives."

"I wasn't born yesterday, Barrd." said the Doctor. "I won't be swayed by pompous military speeches, I won't accept the murder of one life to save another, and I definitely won't allow myself to be surrounded."

Suddenly, he spun around and aimed the gun at the circle of Anilines, who backed up in surprise.

But the next thing the Doctor felt was eight sharp pincers digging into his back, and he was thrust forward, the wind rushing out of him as he hit the floor. Before he could even draw breath, he was dragged over to face Barrd, who loomed over him.

"I warned you not to interfere." he snarled.

He climbed off of the Doctor, and gave the order to his troops, who instantly swarmed.

* * *

Ryan was busy bumping into trees he couldn't see when he heard gunshots. He stopped in his tracks for a second, then burst into a run towards the crash site.

Soon he could see, the Doctor had been caught. The Aniline were all over him, but not like they had been with Harry. They were dragging him over to their ship, where Barrd was waiting. Ryan could guess what was about to happen.

He had to act quickly, or the Doctor was finished. He'd never be able to fight them all off, so running at them wouldn't help. But he couldn't just let the Doctor be killed, not like Harry was.

And then he remembered.

The Doctor's voice floated back to him: _"There's half an armoury in this draw."_

He looked behind him, where he could just about make out Harry's hut. He hesitated. It wouldn't be easy, he knew, but Ryan had no other option.

* * *

"Okay, okay. Just, listen to me for a second." said the Doctor, speaking not to Barrd, but to his brethren, who were dragging him towards the Aniline ship. "You're doing this to save you're world. To save your wives and your children. But if you destroy this planet, you'll be killing men, women and children exactly like the ones on Vectora. Don't you understand that?"

The Anilines continued pulling him, but a few of them exchanged glances filled with uncertainty. It was not something they liked to think about.

"They understand perfectly what they're doing, Doctor." said Barrd, pushing past his troops so the Doctor could face him. "They understand the consequences of their actions, and more importantly, they understand that that does not change the fact that their actions are necessary! Pass judgment on us if you wish, but ask yourself Doctor, if the positions were reversed; if you're entire species could survive as long as the lives of other were lost, would you make the necessary choice?"

The Doctor met Barrd's gaze. "Yes." he said, quietly. "And I'll have to live with that choice until the day I die. But you don't. You don't have to do this, Barrd."

Before the Imperior could reply, a voice came from the other side of the crash site.

"Let him go."

Ryan Murphy was standing before them, a gun from Crazy Harry's draw of tricks resting in the hand at his side.

The Anilines once more looked to their leader, who gazed at the boy in curiosity.

"Such youth." observed Barrd. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Ryan laughed slightly; the hand that held the gun was shaking against his leg. "That makes two of us."

"Ryan." said the Doctor, slowly. "Turn around, and get as far away from here as you can."

"Let the child speak, Doctor." said Barrd, walking away from the Anilines and their prisoner, and taking a few steps towards Ryan. "He is, as a human, more apt to speak for his planet than you."

"Okay then." Ryan nodded. "Just let the Doctor go, and we'll talk."

"Ryan, seriously, just go!" said the Doctor desperately.

But no one moved. The Anilines held the Doctor in place, Barrd dared the young human to make a move, while Ryan tried not to glance to his left too much, and give himself away.

"The time for talking is long gone." said Barrd. "You have a weapon, either use it or don't."

"No!" cried the Doctor. "He's trying to provoke you, he can't kill you unless you pose a threat, don't poi - "

Barrd looked to one of his brethren, silently ordering him to wrap his razor-sharp pincer around the Doctor's mouth. Again, Barrd closed the distance between himself and Ryan. His cowardice was written all over his sweating face. Any second now, he would make a move out of sheer desperation, and Barrd would be allowed to strike.

"You represent your entire species, child. The future of this world rests on your shoulders. Either act, or go away and die with the rest."

Ryan swallowed, and hoped to God he was about to do the right thing.

But the Doctor was still furiously wrestling against the Aniline holding him down. "Ryan, don't! You don't have to do this."

"Of course he does, Doctor!" Barrd snapped, within lunging distance now. "We are here to kill his people and his planet. He has to shoot me! He has no choice!"

As soon as the words had left Barrd's mouth, to the surprise of everyone, Ryan smiled.

"Actually, as it happens, I do." he said.

He raised the gun, but not at Barrd. The Imperior and his tribune followed his hand, and realised.

He was aiming at the life preservers.

The next few second were a blur of gunshots and primal screams. Ryan had not trusted his aim, so he fired as many shots as he could, pulling the trigger again and again whilst running backwards from the horde of Aniline racing towards him. The next thing to be heard was shattering glass.

A bullet had finally found its mark. The golden mist from inside the life preserver was streaming into the air, and dissolving into the night. Half of the group holding down the Doctor were suddenly bathed in a blinding white light, which began to raise them into the air. The Anilines tried to claw the transmat light away, but in the next instant they had shot into the sky and were halfway back to Vectora.

Ryan watched in amazement, not seeing Barrd still bolting towards him. The Imperior dived at his chest, his pincers painfully stabbing into Ryan and taking him to the ground. The rest of the Anilines rushed to help their leader eliminate Ryan once and for all, but in doing so, allowed the Doctor get to his feet, pull out his sonic screwdriver and aim it point-blank at the life preserver next to the Aniline ship.

It glowed at the end, and with a high pitched buzzing the glass of the second life preservers smashed like the first. The Aniline's that had swarmed on Ryan were soon glowing white and rising towards the sky. Another streak of light, and Barrd was the last Aniline left on Earth.

The Imperior let out a howl of crumbling rage, and once again turned his attention to Ryan, who was frozen in fear as Barrd held his arms down with his pincers, and lowered the slit on his stomach down onto Ryan.

"_Barrd!_"

Barrd stopped, glaring back at the Doctor.

"You had a life preserver all to yourself?" said the Doctor. "Self-righteous much?" He had picked up his gun from earlier and was aiming it at the only remaining life preserver. "Or is this for you and the ship?"

Barrd looked at the tendrils flowing out of the spaceship, still collecting energy. And suddenly he didn't look enraged anymore, but desperate.

"Doctor, please!" he croaked. "If you - "

"If I unplug these wires from Earth, you'll lose all your stolen energy? I'm aware of that."

"But you can't!" said Barrd, crawling off of Ryan's chest, as if to appease the Doctor. "My world, my entire race - "

"Will be fine. That's what's so sad about this, Imperior. The Aniline have tainted their legacy by attempting to commit genocide based on a mistake."

"There is no mistake!" Barrd yelled, his anger returning. "If you fire that weapon, and shatter that glass, Vectora will burn by the fire of it's own sun. You may as well be throwing me into the Poison Star itself."

"I'll be doing the same for Earth if I let you succeed." said the Doctor. He lowered the gun and took a step towards Barrd, trying one last time to make him listen. "Whatever you think is happening to your world, it does not, by any stretch of the imagination, give you the right to do what you attempted to do here tonight. Look at him." he said, pointing to Ryan. "What makes so him so different than the children of Vectora? What has he done to deserve death? Look at him!"

Barrd did, seeing Ryan getting to his feet. They looked at each other, human to Aniline. And Barrd was shocked that Ryan's face did not portray fury, or a thirst for revenge, but pity. Unable to look anymore, he turned so each one of his eyes burned into the Doctor.

"Don't you dare think you're better than me. What if the roles were reversed, Doctor? What if you were in my position. What would you do?"

The Doctor gave up trying to convince him, and sighed with an air of finality.

"What would I do?" he asked. "If I was in your position? Well, I wouldn't give pompous little speeches, for a start. In fact, if I was in your position, if I was about to be transmatted 80 million light-years across the universe, I'd probably only have one thing to say." He raised the gun again, aimed it at the final life preserver, and smirked. "Geronimo."

The final gunshot was almost drowned out by the sound of Barrd's howling. He was enveloped in white light, and in a second, flew up and disappeared into the night.

"Geronimo?" asked Ryan.

"What?" the Doctor replied defensively. "What's wrong with Geronimo?"

"Nothing. Just seemed a bit, I dunno, catchphrase-y."

Before the Doctor could retort, the Aniline ship began to glow a brilliant white, and the ground beneath them became increasingly unsteady.

"Uh-oh." said the Doctor, looking down at his feet.

"'Uh-oh' what?" said Ryan.

"The wires in the ground, they're connected to the ship." He looked from the wires beneath them, to the shining ship behind them, and then back to Ryan. "_Run!_"

The ship had begun to rise into the sky, and with it the wires connected to it, which were shooting out of the ground and taking bits of the earth up with them.

The Doctor and Ryan ran as fast they could, the ground behind them being ripped into the air as they did. The Doctor was running for the blue box just a few feet away, with Ryan close behind. But just for a second, Ryan looked behind him. The ship was just about to shoot into the sky, with one last tendril-like wire still in the ground, but coming out fast. And judging by the enormous tremors beneath his feet, he could probably guess where the end of that wire was.

"_Doctor!_" he yelled.

The Doctor looked back just in time to see the wire ripped out right from under him, sending Ryan flying into the air. The ship was gone in an instant, but Ryan performed a full somersault, and hit the ground hard.

"Ryan!" said the Doctor, immediately at his side. "Are you ok?"

There came a grumble in response, and Ryan tried to lift his head. But he concluded that he must have brain damage. Because although his vision was blurry, he could swear, for some inane reason, that the Doctor was smiling.

"You just did - the coolest - somersault - _ever!_" said the Doctor.

Ryan looked at him like he was out of his mind, and lost consciousness.

* * *

After so much darkness, it was light that brought Ryan back to the land of the living.

He blinked and used his hand to shield the sunlight streaming in from his bedroom window.

"Wait… what?" he mumbled, sitting up in his bed.

He looked around. He was indeed in his bedroom. How, he had no idea. For a second, he wondered if it had all been a crazy dream, but then he realised he was still wearing the same clothes, which were stained with mud from the field.

So how had he ended up here? The last thing he remembered was seeing the Doctor from a great height, but getting steadily closer, like he'd been falling. And as if on cue, his head throbbed, and he instantly brought a hand to the point where his temple had struck the ground.

"Ow." he groaned.

He stumbled out of his bed and towards the window, which he pulled open.

Everything seemed… fine. Normal. There were no crowds panicking in the streets, and he could just about make out the Aniline crash site on the field, the only evidence of which were vague imprints in the grass from the life preservers and the ship itself.

It was a completely normal day, something Ryan thought he'd never see again.

He leaned further out of the window to get a better look at the field. But no matter how hard he looked, there was no sign of a little blue box.

As Ryan sat himself down on the edge of the bed, he found he'd been left with more questions than answers. How had he gotten back to his house? Did anyone even realise the human race had been under attack? Would anyone ever believe him? And, most importantly, what had happened to the Doctor?

A breeze blew in from the open window, and a piece of paper fluttered on his computer desk.

Ryan walked over and picked it up, seeing a scribbled letter addressed to him.

_Dear Ryan,_

_Thought I'd take you back home. There'll be a lot of questions about last night, and not a whole lot of answers. If I were you, I'd keep what happened to yourself. Probably for the best, not many would believe you anyway, _

_I moved Harry's body, too. Couldn't leave him there on that field. I'll see to it that he finds a resting place, I promise._

_I checked you over, you'll have a hell of headache, but apart from that you'll be fine._

_Thanks. For all your help, I mean. Couldn't have done it without you. You saved the world last night, Ryan Murphy. And you did it without taking a single life. Feel good about that._

_Anyway, I'll be off now. You know me: danger, monsters, life or death. Good luck with Uni and all that stuff. Don't worry, you'll be brilliant._

_See you around sometime maybe,_

_The Doctor._

It was then that Ryan finally noticed the fresh loaf of bread the note had been sitting on top of. He looked back at the letter.

_Btw, didn't want you to get in trouble with your Mum, so I picked this up on the way home. Have some beans on toast for me!_

Ryan couldn't help but laugh, and read the letter again.

He could hear voices downstairs. His Mum and Dad. It felt like years since he'd seen them.

He was grinning as he put the letter safely in his desk draw. He picked up the loaf of bread, and went downstairs to make some beans on toast.

* * *

_Six weeks later_

"Well, it's been nice knowing you, lads." said Craig solemnly.

"How d'you mean?" asked Tom.

"If I've failed these exams, I'll be moving to Mexico. Better that then face my Mum's wrath."

Ryan, Tom and Adam laughed.

It was a brilliantly bright summer's day, and the four boys were walking across the field towards the school they'd sworn they'd left for the last time six weeks ago. What they'd forgotten was that they'd have to be back today to pick up their A level results, and find out if they'd actually managed to scrape a decent enough mark to get into a University.

Of course, Ryan had been back inside the school since that last bell had rang. But he'd kept that to himself, as advised.

"So," said Adam. "Still wetting yourself Ryan?"

"What?" Ryan cried, while the others sniggered.

"Adam's asking if you're still terrified of going to Uni." Craig clarified.

"Wha - No! 'Still'? When was I ever terrified of going to Uni?"

"Please." Tom scoffed. "We practically had to pull you through the gates on the last day of school. And you just haven't shut up about how far away your Uni is."

"Well, no." Ryan snapped. "I'm not. Nor was I ever. And my Uni _is_ miles away!"

While the others laughed, Ryan looked away in annoyance. His gaze fell on the spot in the centre of the field, as it did every time he crossed it since that night. Sometimes he still expected to see that giant black ship, and those glowing glass life preservers. And then he turned to the other place he looked every time he stepped onto the field, where Crazy Harry's hut used to be.

Instantly, he stopped walking.

"Ryan?" said Tom. The three other boys looked back when they realised Ryan wasn't following. "You alright, mate?"

Ryan didn't answer.

Harry's home was no longer there. It had been demolished not long after the mass blackout, when Harry had been reported dead, with no other details released. So Ryan had not been expecting to see the wooden hut, but he had certainly not been expecting to see a blue Police Box standing in the spot where it used to be.

"Ryan?" said Craig, bringing him out of his thoughts by waving a hand in front of his face. "Hellooo? What's up with you?"

"Nothing." he said quickly. "Listen, I forgot something back home. Go ahead, I'll catch up."

"You sure?" asked Adam, the boys throwing worried glances at each other.

"Yeah, yeah." Ryan insisted, starting to walk back to the other end of the field. "I'll be five minutes."

Ryan continued pretending to walk home until his friends were out of sight, before running as fast as he possibly could towards the blue box.

But when he got there, he suddenly found himself wondering what to do. Was it the Doctor? Had he come back? Was that a good sign? Why did he live in a little phone box?

But Ryan pushed this all out of his head. He raised his hand, hesitated, then prepared to knock.

But just as his fist was about to make contact, the doors swung backwards, and there was the Doctor.

"Hiya!"

"Yarrgh!" cried Ryan, jumping backwards in surprise. "For God's sake, are you trying to kill me?"

"Oh." said the Doctor. "Sorry about that. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. And, to be honest," he said, frankly. "sometimes if I don't show up again at least once, people start to wonder if they'd imagined me."

Ryan laughed as he got his breath back. The thought had crossed his mind.

The Doctor clasped his hands together and stepped out of his box. "Anyway! Big day, eh? Nervous?"

"Erm…" Ryan considered the question. "No. Not as much as I thought I'd be. You were right, you know? Moving on, it's part of life. Good step for me." A little voice in the back of his mind asked him who he was trying to convince; the Doctor or himself?

But to his surprise, the Doctor looked slightly disappointed.

"Oh." he said.

"What?" asked Ryan.

"Nothing, it's just - well, I thought if you were still feeling a bit uneasy about the whole thing, you could, well I thought maybe you'd like to, I don't know, spend your summer running across the universe."

Ryan looked at him. "What? Like, travel with you? Other planets and stuff?"

The Doctor nodded, his smile returning. "Other planets and stuff."

Ryan was suddenly overtaken with thoughts of standing on distant worlds, seeing skies of a million different colours; no pressure, no Uni. Just him, the Doctor, and the universe.

And then Ryan looked across the field, where through the trees he could see other students walking towards the school to pick up their results, and he came back to reality.

"I can't." he sighed. "If my results are good enough, I start Uni in a few weeks. I couldn't just not go, I'd break my Mum's heart."

To Ryan's annoyance, the Doctor started to laugh. "Ryan Murphy." he said, proudly. "Model son!"

"Shut up." Ryan scowled.

"Well, that's lucky then, isn't it?" said the Doctor, and didn't elaborate any further.

"What is?" asked Ryan, getting the distinct impression the Doctor had been waiting for him to do so.

"That this box," said the Doctor, leaning back against the tall blue doors. "just so happens to moonlight as a time machine."

Ryan blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The box." said the Doctor, nodding to it. "It's a time machine."

Ryan laughed. The Doctor didn't join him.

"You - You've got a time machine?" he asked sardonically.

"Yep."

It was, of course, impossible. How could a wooden phone box possibly be a time machine? And yet, this was the man who had fallen from the sky and fought off alien spider-slugs. Did that make anything possible when it came to him? And the more he thought about it, and saw the gleam of pure excitement in the Doctor's eyes, Ryan found himself believing.

"So I could travel anywhere." he said. "Anywhere in the entire universe. And when I'm ready, come home and start Uni?"

"Pretty much." said the Doctor immodestly.

Ryan grinned. "Like a gap year?"

"A gap year." laughed the Doctor. "Exactly! So, what do you say?"

"I say, Geronimo! I'm in!"

The Doctor jumped away from the box and smacked a hand against Ryan's shoulder. "Ah, I knew 'Geronimo' would grow on you. Right then, off we go!" he said, opening the blue box's doors for him.

"Shouldn't I run home and grab some clothes?"

"Nah!" the Doctor said, waving a hand and nodding into the box. "There's plenty of stuff in here, and we can always pop back later if we need to."

Ryan frowned. "Lot's of stuff? In there?"

The Doctor grinned again, but didn't answer. Instead he once again held the doors open for him.

"After you." he said.

Ryan gave him a sceptical look, and noticed the bright orange light spilling out of the doorway.

The Doctor stood aside to let him pass, and waited.

"…_bloody hell!_"

"Oh." said the Doctor. "And it's bigger on the inside. Somehow I always forget to mention that bit."

He stepped inside and closed the doors behind him. A wheezing, groaning noise filled the air, a breeze from nowhere swept through the grass, and the box disappeared into thin air, taking Ryan Murphy with it.

* * *

Not long after, Vectora's sun turned red, expanded, and roasted everyone of its inhabitants alive.

But this was no natural solar expansion. This was no act of God.

This was a murder, and it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

_The End_

* * *

**Coming Soon**

Every hotel in New York has a floor that doesn't exist; the happiest place on earth has an unwanted guest; humanity is building the means to it's own destruction.

Ryan Murphy saw the TARDIS as a way to stop running. But he'll soon find himself running more often than not; for his own life, for the Doctor's, for the life of every living thing in the entire universe.

Because there is a star in the sky that even the Doctor doesn't go near. A star that no one speaks of. A star that has had death wished upon it since the dawn of time.

But if this star dies, it'll take all of the others with it.

Ryan Murphy still might not make it to University.


End file.
